Monthly Archives: September 2008

On the eve of Malaysia Independence Day, a few of us got together to celebrate Tinga’s graduation. Everyone brought really nice food and drinks. We chat about almost everything bunny throughout the nite. SB brought her nice DSLR camera to snap some photos. Unfortunately, none of them turn out clear and she was only able to salvage these from the entire collection:

Lastly, this is Tinga safe in mummy’s arms:

Special thanks goes out to SB for these wonderful photos!

Thinking back, I never thought I could own a pure bred rabbit in this lifetime let alone a Show Quality rabbit. When I first got Skor I was ecstatic. Then when Holly Hope came along, I was speechless. The latest addition to the excitement is Moesha. She is stunning for a four weeks old. Sadly, Charlyz is losing some stockiness.

WoW! I know I should not praise my own rabbit but I thought this kind of look can only be seen on other rabbitry websites! I just hope the ears do not grow any longer.

Her ears are getting longer and her head is slimming down. Hope she fills up soon and fast!

I am very grateful to all those people that has helped me in a way or another bringing in my foundation rabbits especially Christina for sharing her wonderful rabbits with me. A dream come true indeed!

I do not know if I have written anything similar to this in the past but I just find it hilarious to be sarcastic sometimes.

While cleaning up the rabbitry today, I just felt a little tickle and that gave me an idea to post this sarcastic post. I know many may get offended but many more would find it interesting and ticklish to the mind and heart. I rather make someone laugh in their chair laughing than to bother with those with a narrow mind and heart taking offense on just a blog post.

In order for me to proceed, please allow me to first write about a craze or fad that swiped our entire nation not too long ago. I believe it was at least 2 to 3 years ago. There was this hybrid fish produced out of a few Cichlids crosses (genetic engineering they called, but I call it utter rubbish). The locals called these fishes Flower Horn (what a stupid name to begin with). I guess it was given this name because these poor fishes grow humps on their heads and the bigger the hump is, the better it would be priced. That’s where the Horn came from and as for the flower, these fishes are known to have very nice and colorful patterns on their bodies. And it is this patterns that has caused this crazed.

Most of the Chinese in this country are still very much primitive and animistic (rolling me eyes!). Alright, before I stray further away. So coming back to the patterns, as the pattern emerges, there were a few coincidences that they turned out to be numbers (or so claimed by owners – maybe they have high level of hallucination!). And so coincidently, some of these numbers were used in the purchase of lottery tickets and amazingly, some lotteries hit the jackpot.

Soon word spread like wildfire and every household (mostly Chinese) had an aquarium with at least one of these FlowerHorns. Of course, some had horns and other are just plain nature flukes. I am not sure that has also given the reason for ornamental fisheries to “inject” colors into another Cichlid breed that was almost white – oh yah, the Red Giant Gourami. Young Red Giant Gourami came with NUMBERS! Can you imagine?

In Malaysia, we have 3 main lottery outlets selling 4 digits lottery numbers. They are collectively known to many as the Unholy Trinity. My story above relates to the Unholy Trinity because anyone can make a living by associating their product to the Unholy Trinity. That is how majority of the Malaysian mentality is. Please do not deny that if you are one of them and accuse me of sedition. LOL! That is who we are and many of us are very proud of, except me of course!

Alright, this is the part which is the funniest and also the part I fear most to write because I do not want to give opportunists some funny ideas to exploit our precious rabbits.

You see, based on the scenario described above, you can basically sell a rabbit with 4 digit tattoo on its ears and claim that it will hit the jackpot. I am not sure how you are going the derive the most probable winning number and even if you do know the number, isn’t it better you use it for yourself?

But I want to go further than that because a Holland Lops can do just more than winning a lottery ticket, it can direct traffics too!

If you do not believe me, here is a photo to prove my point:

As you can see, the Holland Lop’s ears can be quite flexible sometimes, they move from back to front and even stands up occassionally.

So, I think all you Chinese should stop thinking about numbers for now. We sometimes do need traffic wardens to get our lives back on track too. A Holland Lop or any other pet will do just that! Don’t all our beloved pets keep us sane in this insane world? I do not know about you, but my rabbits sure do!

I know this topic is quite redundant because most of what I want to write are well known facts. But it is just for me to vent out my frustration on what I notice that is going on around me.

I would just like to write more about the local pet business and how I perceive it. All of us know that pet businesses rely heavily on livestock. The profit margin for accessories and ration is relatively low and most of the pet shop operators depend heavily on selling livestock that may bring up to 100% profit. The other profitable services include grooming and boarding.

Let’s spend a moment to just talk about ethics. Business will always remain simply as business at the end of the day because money talks. The question is, will one survive being ethical? In this competitive environment where pet stores are blossoming like mushrooms, many chooses to cut edges and put ethics on the line.

Although business remains as business, the piece of CAKE also remains as a piece of CAKE. The only thing that matters is who’s having the bigger slice. Or should the cake be split equally? But we know, the heart of men is greedy.

I for one will never be successful if I ever venture into the pet business. I will never want to venture into it in the first place. Why? Because I learned from observation that in a business, there is no place for ethics. When faced with a situation to weight between business and ethics, the scale will always tip to where the $$ is. I do not like to make that decision. I know many people starts off a pet business because they have love for animals. Sadly, the love for animals and money should never be mixed. Just like how Luke Skywalker must bring balance to the force, there will always be a dark side lingering nearby.

I know of pet stores that did not survive because their love for animals are stronger than their love for money. But as I mentioned earlier, it is a business at the end of the day.

So, my advice is, don’t open a pet store if you are an ethical person because it will either make you or break you.

Why am I writing this? It is just because I feel very privileged just being an animal lover and being able to enjoy my pets just as they are. There is no pressure as to whether I will lose my business or not because it is not a business to begin with. I cannot bring myself to the level where I make a living out of other living creatures. But of course at the same time, that does not mean I give away rabbits for free. There should always be a balance. One will only appreciate something if it comes with a price and of value. Mine is not a business yet not a charity.

So if you ask me whether pets from pet stores are worth buying, I would say YES and NO. Why?

YES only for those (pet store operators) with a larger than life heart and as for NO, go figure…